Operator glossary
Transparency (serialization program)
Amazon's unit-level serialization — a unique 2D code on every unit, scanned at FBA check-in, that makes counterfeiting your product physically impossible to inbound.
Transparency issues a unique code per unit of an enrolled product; Amazon scans codes at receiving and blocks units that fail. Counterfeits stop at the warehouse door instead of at a customer complaint — protection that works before the defect, unlike takedowns that work after.
Costs run per code (cents per unit, volume-tiered) plus the operational lift of printing codes into your packaging line. It earns the overhead for brands actively bleeding to counterfeits or hijackers — pair the enrollment with test buys to clean existing bad stock out of the pool. Requires Brand Registry and GTIN-consistent catalogs.
The numbers
- Per-unit 2D codes, verified at FBA check-in and by customers via app scan.
- Pricing runs cents per code on volume tiers; enrollment is per product, requiring Brand Registry.
- Blocks counterfeit inbound proactively — complementary to (not replaced by) takedown workflows.
Primary sources: Transparency (official)
Related terms